Where, then, are the oracles of Apollo uttered at Pytho, and the faithful oaths well plighted ? Deem all thine enemies rather than the gods
1
.
ORESTES
I decide that thou prevailest, and admonishest me well: (turning to his mother,) follow me. I wish to slay thee close beside his corpse here ; for when he was alive too, thou didst use to deem him better than my father. Go sleep with him in death, since thou dost love this man, and him whom thou wast bound to love thou loathest.
I decide that thou prevailest, and admonishest me well: (turning to his mother,) follow me. I wish to slay thee close beside his corpse here ; for when he was alive too, thou didst use to deem him better than my father. Go sleep with him in death, since thou dost love this man, and him whom thou wast bound to love thou loathest.
CLYTEMNESTRA
I reared thee, and with thee I would spend my age.
I reared thee, and with thee I would spend my age.
ORESTES
What! having murdered my sire, shalt thou dwell with me ?
What! having murdered my sire, shalt thou dwell with me ?
CLYTEMNESTRA
Destiny, my child, was an accessory to these things.
Destiny, my child, was an accessory to these things.
ORESTES
Ay, and so Destiny provides the doom that is now before thee.
Ay, and so Destiny provides the doom that is now before thee.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Hast thou no awe of a parent's curses, my child ?
Hast thou no awe of a parent's curses, my child ?
ORESTES
No ; for after giving me birth thou didst cast me out into misery.
No ; for after giving me birth thou didst cast me out into misery.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Surely I did not cast thee out [when I sent thee] to the house of a friend.
Surely I did not cast thee out [when I sent thee] to the house of a friend.
ORESTES
In two ways was I sold, son though I was of a free- father.
In two ways was I sold, son though I was of a free- father.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Where then is the price which I received for bartering thee away ?
Where then is the price which I received for bartering thee away ?
ORESTES
I am ashamed to reproach thee in plain terms with this deed of thine.
I am ashamed to reproach thee in plain terms with this deed of thine.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Nay, only tell equally the follies of thy father.
Nay, only tell equally the follies of thy father.
ORESTES
Reproach not him that bore the toil, thou that didst sit within the house.
Reproach not him that bore the toil, thou that didst sit within the house.
CLYTEMNESTRA
'Tis a sorrow to women to be debarred from a hus- band, my child.
'Tis a sorrow to women to be debarred from a hus- band, my child.
ORESTES
Yet sure it is the husband's toiling that supports them as they sit within.
Yet sure it is the husband's toiling that supports them as they sit within.
CLYTEMNESTRA
It seems, then, that thou wilt slay thy mother, my child.
It seems, then, that thou wilt slay thy mother, my child.
ORESTES
'Tis thou wilt work thine own destruction, not I.
'Tis thou wilt work thine own destruction, not I.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Look to it, beware of the wrathful furies of a mother.
Look to it, beware of the wrathful furies of a mother.
ORESTES
But how am I to escape those of my father if I neglect this?
But how am I to escape those of my father if I neglect this?
CLYTEMNESTRA
I, a living woman, seem to be vainly making my moan to a sepulchre.
I, a living woman, seem to be vainly making my moan to a sepulchre.
ORESTES
Ay, for the fate of my father wafts
1
down upon thee the doom that now awaits thee.
Ay, for the fate of my father wafts
1
down upon thee the doom that now awaits thee.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Ah me! this is the serpent that I bore and nurtured. In truth the panic occasioned by my dreams has been indeed prophetic.
Ah me! this is the serpent that I bore and nurtured. In truth the panic occasioned by my dreams has been indeed prophetic.
ORESTES
Thou didst in truth slay one whom it became thee not, so suffer what becomes thee not.
ORESTES forces his mother into the palace.
Thou didst in truth slay one whom it became thee not, so suffer what becomes thee not.
ORESTES forces his mother into the palace.
CHORUS
Let us then bewail the twofold calamity even of this wretched pair. And since the hapless Orestes hath attained the consummation of many slaughters, this notwithstanding we prefer, that the eye of the house has not fallen in utter destruction.
Let us then bewail the twofold calamity even of this wretched pair. And since the hapless Orestes hath attained the consummation of many slaughters, this notwithstanding we prefer, that the eye of the house has not fallen in utter destruction.
Libation Bearers. Aeschylus. Theodore Alois Buckley (Translator). London. 1849.
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